With a little effort, travel points are easy to collect. They’re also easy to waste and spend on bookings you maybe shouldn’t use points for. For example, you may focus so much on getting a free flight or hotel room that missed what value you’re getting in return.
Sometimes the better choice is to keep your points flexible, and save them for later by paying cash. Other times spending a little more (whether cash or points) may get you a much better experience. I try to look at the whole experience an itinerary brings, rather than simply trying to get the number beside the dollar sign to be as close to zero as possible.
In this post we’ll explore how get the best bang for your buck when using travel rewards points, assuming you’ve collected them in a program that will actually work for the type of travel you want to do.
Keep Your Options Open
Travel reward points are less flexible when they’re “stuck” inside a specific airline or hotel program. That’s why I prefer to collect points in a rewards program that allows me to keep my options open. For example, in addition to being able to use points for travel purchases, Amex also allows me to transfer my points into a variety of programs I may want to use for a redemption. Transfers are typically one-way and irreversible, and the receiving program, like Aeroplan, can change its redemption rates at any point.
This is why, if needed, I only transfer points when I’m ready to use them. Amex transfers are instant for some programs, which allows me to move pretty quick if I see a redemption I want to use. Keeping a large points balance with a single airline like Air Canada or WestJet, doesn’t help me when the airline program has no available seats on the route or dates I want.
Compare What the Booking Really Costs
Points are basically another form of cash, so spend your points with the same care you would when spending cash. Using travel reward points can initially feel great because the “dollar amount owing” on the screen disappears. But what’s the value you got in exchange?
Spending 40,000 Amex points may save me $400 today. Saving those points for a fixed-rate flight redemption later may be smarter, as the flight might save me $800 compared to having to book the flight directly. In those cases, paying cash for the cheaper booking may make more sense.
For me, it depends on my travel goals and the trips I’m planning for the upcoming 6-12 months. Sometimes saving money now matters more than maximizing some future trip. Convenience can also be worth more than the cents-per-point calculation some travel hackers like to brag about.
Look Beyond the Cheapest Hotel Rate
Travel hacking isn’t always about achieving a completely free ticket, or a free hotel room. My goal is to pay less than average, for an above average experience. This means that some of the better value redemptions come from improving the trip rather than eliminating the bill.
For example, I’ve used the points portion of a hotel redemption to get a higher tier room at a lower rate than what the “standard” room would have cost me. I still paid less than average, but I got a better deal than most, for a much better travel experience.
Saving $15 on the nightly room rate seems less exciting when you also lose the breakfast that otherwise would’ve been included, or other perks a program like FoundersCard may have been able to include in your reservation. I try to compare the total experience value I get from your trip, not just the total dollar amount at the bottom of my itinerary.
Get Into Action
The most useful part of a Travel Hacking system is knowing when to use the points, when to keep them, and how to get more experience value.
If you want to go deeper into the strategies I use, keep reading below or take a look at my Travel Revolution course. It is where I walk through the practical side of putting all of this to work.
